Nyc B1 Spt Position 6 (4) Fdr- Transcript- Atcscc National Operations Manager Position- 1400-1515 Utc

Memorandum

U.S. Department of Transportation

Federal Aviation Administration

s"bJect:

INFORMATION: Partial Transcript: 911 Tapes

October 15, 2003

Reply to JoAnn Murray Attn.of: (781)238-7583

From: Quality Assurance Specialist

To

Date:

Accident File-911 This transcription covers the Air Traffic Control Systems Command Center^ Operations Manager position for the time period from September 11, 2001, 1400 UTC, to September 11, 2001, 1515 UTC. Agencies MakinR Transmissions

Abbreviations

Air Traffic Control Systems Control Center United Postal Service l'i\re u; Los Angeles Dulles ATCT New Jersey Aviation Director Federal Bureau of Investigation Lt. Col. Bellala Northwest Airlines Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center

ATCSCC -^ UPS LA IAD OHARE FBI LTCOL NWA CENTER

F li es

'5

I hereby certify that the following is a true transcription of the recorded conversation pertaining to the subject date. o-Ann M. Murray ' Quality Assurance Specialist New England Regional Office 1440:00

ATCSCC

um you mean you want to be joined into this conference call

1440:03

UNK

right yes

1440:04

ATCSCC

okay

911 Transcripts Page 2 of 19 1440:05

UNK

i can't ah use the normal number

1440:07 1441

ATCSCC

okay hold on a second let me see how we're doing that

1441:12

ATCSCC

good morning good morning command center ellen king could you hold on just a minute please

1441:13

UPS

yes ma'am

1441:14 1442

ATCSCC

thank you

1 442:36

UNK

make sure you are listening to what's going on over here

1442:53

UNK

unintelligible

1443:00

UNK

the number would bej

1443:10

UNK

ask for stew o'neill (unintelligible) the good guy

1443:14

ATCSCC

we still have you On hold (unintelligible)

1443:16

UPS

yes ma' am

1444:47

UNK

no at eleven (unintelligible) were shutting down were at defcon four

\9

UNK

(unintelligible)

9/11 Law Enforcement SensitiA

\4

911 Transcripts Page 3 of 19 1445 1445:42

UNK

mary

1445:43

ATCSCC

i am so sorry but ah were pretty busy

1445:45

UPS

yes ma'am i understand it's not a problem

1445:47

ATCSCC

what can i do for you

1445:49

UPS

my name is paul amold i am the director of aviation safety for u p s

1445:51

ATCSCC

uhhuh

1445:55

UPS

we are the responsibility for the c d c urn um merchandise all the bandages all the kind of stuff the center for disease control would inflight in we have been put on standby by cdc and i know that i cant fly an aircraft into j f k or anyplace without your permission and i would assume that we would use this a specific identifier for that aircraft

1446 1446:17

ATCSCC

um i really who's authorizing

1446:20

UPS

well at this point the c d c has put us on standby in other words they may want us to launch to get medical supplies into new york city and i know i can't put an aircraft up in the air without your permission

1446:32

ATCSCC

right

911 Transcripts Page 4 of 19 1446:35

UPS

so that's why i'm calling because if they tell me that they want to activate and uh they want us to fly i can't go anywhere without your permission and i want to let you guys know that we have been put on standby to move all these medical supplies and i want to get things rolling and get the coordination already in place

1446:51

ATCSCC

sounds like a good idea

1446:52

UPS

yes ma'am

1446:53

ATCSCC

in order to accomplish this we are going to need uh c d c authorities to call us and uh basically tell me what you just told me

1447:01

UPS

okay

1447:02

ATCSCC

alright

1447:04

UPS

yes ma'am ah okay and your name again please

1447:05

ATCSCC

ellen king k i n g

1447:06

UPS

ellen i will have them call you ma'am

1447:07

ATCSCC

very well

1447:09

UPS

thank you ellen

1447:10

ATCSCC

alright bye

1447

911 Transcripts PageS of 19 1447:12 UPS 1448 (1449-1450) 1450:20 ATCSCC

bye

1450:23

LAX

hey this is bruce in los angeles

1450:26

ATCSCC

hey bruce in los angeles

1450:29

LAX

can we allow the planes to land at guam

1450:32

ATCSCC

um the yes the answer is the only restrictions that we have right now are the uh continental united states

1450:36

LAX

thank you very much

1450:38

ATCSCC

okay bye

good morning command center ellen king

1450:40 LAX 1451 (1452-1455) 1456 1456:19 IAD

bye

1456:22

ATCSCC

yah this is the command center u s air six three three just departed is that true

1456:26

UNK

(unintelligible)

1456:30 1457

ATCSCC

dulles tower kelly

no departures thank you

911 Transcripts Page 6 of 19 1457:29

IAD

dulles tower mike russo speaking

1457:31

ATCSCC

hey ah dulles command center do you guys have an unauthorized uh unidentified aircraft circling the area

1457:35

IAD

standby

1457:48

IAD

yeah fairfax one just departed out of here it's the ah police is that the only one you show

1457:52

ATC S CC

that's the only one were showing

1457:54

IAD

okay

1457:55

ATCSCC

no we we uh saw something come over our pager saying that there was one

1457:57

IAD

uhhuh

1457:59 1458

ATCSCC

and we wanted to confirm it or deny it

1458:01

IAD

okay

1458:02

ATCSCC

well tower

1458:03

IAD

yes

145 8:04

ATCSCC

hey tower this is ellen at the command center

911 Transcripts Page 7 of 19 1458:05

IAD

hey ellen

1458:06

ATCSCC

um we we are considering evacuating due to some information that we are getting so would you please standby to evacuate

1458:11

IAD

okay

1458:13 1459

ATCSCC

okay bye my

1459:17

IAD

dulles tower mike russo speaking

1459:19

ATCSCC

hi mike this is ellen king at the command center

1459:21

IAD

yes ellen

1459:23

ATCSCC

hold on just a second please you are on standby for evacuation you know right

1459:27

IAD

right

1459:29

ATCSCC

okay

1459:30

ATCSCC

they're okay

1459:33

IAD

okay

1459:34

ATCSCC

okay you are secure so just stay there

911 Transcripts Page 8 of 19 1459:35

IAD

okay

1459:36

ATCSCC

we were told that you had an unauthorized aircraft uh without radio contact and we have just confirmed that the fairfax police in a helicopter may be that one but

1459:44

IAD

alright

1459:45

ATCSCC

so stay in your tower for now

1459:46

IAD

okay

1459:47

ATCSCC

unless you feel like it's the wrong choice

1459:48

IAD

he he he he we'll hang out here

1459:50

ATCSCC

okay let us know

1459:51

IAD

okay

1459:52

ATCSCC

thanks m y

1459:53

LAD

thanks bye

1502:03

ATCSCC

good morning command center ellen king

1502:05

OHARE

yeah this is emmett ohare i'm the state aviation director in new jersey i need some uh information

1502:10

ATCSCC

go ahead please

1500 1501 1502

911 Transcripts Page 9 of 19 1502:12

OHARE

we have shut down every airport in new jersey all the private airports we need some information on emergency flights in and out and how they get authority to do that and how long you believe that we will have to keep all the airports closed

1502:29

ATCSCC

um we cannot make a determination on how long we will be in this situation at this point so i can't give you an end time to this dilemma

1502:37

OHARE

okay the region com center has advised or they really don't know a lot that the only airports that were closed were in the new york tracon area

1502:47

ATCSCC

no that's not correct every united states airport is closed for both arrival and departure aircraft

1502:53

OHARE

right okay

1502:54

ATCSCC

the only thing that we are letting fly is the military and law enforcement aircraft with authorization

1503:01

OHARE

okay how do they get authorization

1503:04

ATCSCC

(unintelligible) hold on for just a second please

1503:12

OHARE

we really need to start working twenty four seven in here greg

1503:14

ATCSCC

okayum

1503:15

OHARE

what do i need to do

1503

911 Transcripts Page 10 of 19 1503:16

ATCSCC

what organization needs to know this i'm sorry

15 03:19

OHARE

i am state aviation director for the state of new j ersey my name is emmett e m m e 11 last name is ohare o apostrophe h a r e my phone number is six zero nine five three zero two nine zero seven nine zero two

1503:39 1504

ATCSCC

hold on a second

1504:12

UNK

(unintelligible)

1504:13

ATCSCC

um are you there

1504:15

OHARE

yeah

15 04:17

ATCSCC

um well if it was a military aircraft they would obviously get that from the military

1504:19

OHARE

no this would be we we are getting calls from people that are being told that they need to carry some whatever local supplies for (unintelligible) from princeton to teterboro

1504:36

ATCSCC

and who is asking them to do that

1504:38

OHARE

we don't know that's what we need to track down but once if we find out that this is an authorized requirement who do we need to contact to make sure that they can do this

1504:48

ATCSCC

the uh people that will be ha that we are authorizing to let people do that are contacting us here at the command center and um the organization that's requesting the support would contact us directly

911 Transcripts Page 11 of 19 1505 1505:01

OHARE

okay

1505:02

ATCSCC

alright

1505:03

OHARE

at either five one three three or five one four four or is that a different number for them to call in

1505:06

ATCSCC five one three four

1505:08

OHARE

1505:09

ATCSCC

yeah

1505:10

OHARE

okay are the other two okay three three and four four

1505:12

ATCSCC

four four is in the back so we are not hearing it ring as well as we need two three three is okay but i would not recommend four four right now

1505:19

OHARE

alright so its three three and have them call in on three four

1505:25

ATCSCC

yes

1505:26

OHARE

okay

1505:27

ATCSCC

alright

five

one three four

r-

9/11 Law Enforcement Privacv

911 Transcripts Pave 12 of 19 1505:29

OHARE

and if you need us you've go{ our numbers we represent the entire state of new jersey \0 ATCSCC perfect we appreciate your he

1505:32

OHARE

okay

1505:33

ATCSCC

thank you

1505:34

OHARE

bye

1505:35

ATCSCC

bye

1505:55 1506

ATCSCC

good morning command center ellen king 1

1506:01

FBI

good morning this is|_ |fbi socfromthe denver division i and some other executives are uh stranded in Washington as you can imagine we need to get back to our home divisions i have a kingair based at front range airport in denver

1506:11

ATCSCC

could you hold on for a minute please thank you

1506:39 1507

ATCSCC

you're still waiting

1507:36

FBI

yes hello

1507:38

ATCSCC

i'm here go ahead oh i'm sorry just a second again

1507:42

ATCSCC

thanks go ahead

1

9/11 Law Enforcement Sensitive

911 Transcripts Page 13 of 19 1507:44

FBI

uh i need Authorization for an f b i flight f b i aircraft

1 507:47

ATCSCC

okay ah is it in defense of the emergency right now

1507:52

FBI

ah yes we need to ah

1 507:55

ATCSCC

okay this is how we are handling that we have f b i folks on another telcon with us and because of as you might imagine the security that is in effect right now we need ah the f b i on our telcons togo ahead and contact us and tell us your flight number and all the rest of the particulars \9 FBI alright now i i ah was referred by

1 508

headquarters command post who are your people here to call

1508:18

ATCSCC

alright

1 508:20

FBI

and these folks referred me to you

1 508:22

ATCSCC

alright hold on just a minute please and I'll see why everyone is putting you in a circle

1508:24

FBI

thanks

1508:29

ATCSCC

good morning command center ellen king

1 508:3 1

LT COL

yeah lieutenant colonel bellala from the western pacific region

1508:35

ATCSCC

uhhuh

911 Transcripts Page 14 of 19 1508:36

LT COL

hey i am calling to get information uh on the grounding for military aircraft being included as well

1508:38

ATCSCC

the military aircraft ah supporting the emergency are not but we are releasing all military aircraft that are involved in the situation

1508:45

LT COL

okay and everybody else needs to sit down

1508:47

ATCSCC

yes sir

1508:48

LT COL

thanks

1508:49

ATCSCC

okay bye

1508:50 1509

LTCOL

bye

1509:24

ATCSCC

alright guess what we're not going to run you around in circles any more

1509:28

FBI

thank you very much

1509:30

ATCSCC

you're very welcome what's the call sign of the aircraft

1509:33

FBI

well i need to get that to you but uh the the idea is from front range airport in denver i assume to manassas would work best and then return

1509:41

ATCSCC

okay whenever you have that information if you could call us with uh the

911 Transcripts Page 15 of 19 1509:48

FBI

the tail number

1509:51

ATCSCC

yeah the departure point the destination just to verify it once again and also um the tail number and the reason for the mission

1509:56

FBI

thank you very much

1509:58

ATCSCC

you're welcome

1509:59 1510

FBI

bye

1510:01 1511

ATCSCC

bye

1511:48

ATCSCC

good morning command center ellen king

1511:49

NWA

ellen its mike at northwest

1511:51

ATCSCC

hi mike how are you

1511:53

NWA

good hey we can't uh we had a northwest fifteen thirty nine in route from richmond to detroit and he was supposed to divert to Pittsburgh and we can't confirm that he's on the ground there uh the station's been looking for him we can't confirm that he's on the field

1512:08

ATCSCC

when did ah let me see let me look at the e t m s to see when we thought he was supposed to go fifteen thirty nine you said right

1512:15

NWA

right

1512

911 Transcripts Page 16 of 19 1512:16

ATCSCC

okay fifteen thirty nine richmond to Pittsburgh i see in the air in the middle of Cleveland center's airspace let me see what the flight plan says

1512:28

ATCSCC

it says that he departed oops i typed it in wrong hold on let's see he actually departed richmond at thirteen oh five z and it says that he landed at fourteen twenty one

1513:03

NWA

you show him landed at fourteen twenty one

1513:08

ATCSCC

well that's what the flight plan on the e t m s says

1513:10

NWA

okay

1513:11

ATCSCC

uh

1513:12

NWA

yeah we need to confirm we have been trying to get ahold of tower and uh we can't get the phone is busy

1513:15

ATCSCC

huh what a surprise

1513:17

NWA

yeah

1513:18

ATCSCC

let's see if i can get them on another line here Pittsburgh

1513:22

NWA

i've got the command center

1513:30

ATCSCC

okay hold on i have to put you on hold to be able talk to them

1513

911 Transcripts Page 16 of 19 1513:33 1514

NWA

okay alright

1514:23

CENTER

Cleveland center watch desk

1514:25

ATCSCC

hey it's ellen at the command center you guys holding up okay

1514:27

CENTER

yeah we're doing okay how are you guys doing

1514:29

ATCSCC

well we are still all breathing everybody is relatively vertical yeah i have northwest on another line and they don't know where their fifteen thirty nine

1514:35

CENTER

fifteen thirty-nine i'm looking for him now

1514:37

ATCSCC

okay

1514:38

CENTER

uh fourteen oh six we had a looks like an entry on a radar descend to one seven thousand feet and that's the last report i'm going to try to find out who was sitting there and get some further confirmation

1514:47

ATCSCC

okay um e t m s te shows me that he landed at pittsburgh at fourteen twenty one have you called the tower yet

1514:52

CENTER

(unintelligible) no because i haven't got a change of destination on my i if you are showing pittsburgh because he was due to go to Detroit

911 Transcripts Page 18 of 19 1514:58

ATCSCC

uh let me just double check it i don't want to send you on a wild goose chase but that's what i think i saw

1515:05

CENTER

my current radar looks like he went to detroit

1515:09

ATCSCC

okay let me double check

1515:11

UNK

a hang on did they resume a search of the building

1515:14

ATCSCC

alright you were right i'm sorry

1515:15

CENTER

okay

1515:17

ATCSCC

you're right

1515:18

CENTER

fourteen twenty-one you are showing that he landed

1515:19

ATCSCC

yeah at detroit

1515:20

CENTER

why's northwest don't know that then i wonder

1515:23

ATCSCC

well i think everyone's kind of in an upheaval

1515:25

CENTER

okay i will take care of it on this end

1515:27

ATCSCC

you going to call northwest

1515:28

CENTER

i will take care of it all

1515

911 Transcripts Page 19 of 19 1515:29

ATCSCC

i appreciate it thank you

1515:30

CENTER

thank you

1515:31

ATCSCC

bye

1515:36

ATCSCC

thanks for waiting they are i called the Cleveland center and they are talkin to the folks at detroit

1515:38

NWA

yeah

1515:39

ATCSCC

and then they are going to call you back and

1515:41

NWA

yeah actually you know what ellcn

1515:43

ATCSCC

what

1515:44

NWA

we found him he is in the gate at detroit

1515:46

ATCSCC

okay very good

1515:48

NWA

yup thank you

1515:50

ATCSCC

alright